Adventures in Soup!

Well, I started the week determined to try loads of new soup recipes but I was struck down with the lurgy again and I really didn't feel like doing much. I did manage to have a bash at couple of easy recipes and I was quite surprised at just how tasty homemade vegetable soup can be.

My first soup of the week was one I've been making myself for years.I loved lentil soup when my kids were little, it was a meal in can. Quick tasty and cheap. The idea of making my own didn't really occur to me then, it was just a quick meal and the image of me chopping ingredients and faffing about with dried lentils didn't really appeal. That was until the price of lentil soup, like alot of my favourite stuff, went through the roof and my wages went through the floor. My hubby, then boyfriend,  gave me a new cook book with the tastiest sounding lentil soup recipe in it that I just had to have a bash. Needless to say I loved the result  but the kids decided they didn't like lentils anymore and so its a freezer filler I make for when they're all having something i can't.
Its really filling and makes 3 portions for the fridge or freezer.

Spicy Lentil and Sweetcorn Soup.

2 tablespoons of olive oil

100g of red lentils, rinsed and put to one side.

1 onion, diced

2 cloves of garlic, crushed

1 pint of vegetable stock, you can adjust how much you use according to how thick you want the soup to be.

1 tsp of curry powder, I use chaat masala mix its just spicy enough without being too hot.

2 tablespoons of tomato puree, you can add more if you like tomato flavouring.

half a tin of sweetcorn.

In a large saucepan heat the oil and gently fry the onion and garlic until they begin to soften.

Add the lentils and fry for a couple of minutes stirring all the time. Next add the curry powder, the heat brings out the flavour before you add the liquid.

Next add the stock and tomato puree and stir really well. Bring to the boil and then simmer until the lentils are soft and the soup is quite thick. Finally add the sweetcorn and heat through.

I love this with some fresh from the oven part baked gluten free rolls like the ones made by dietary specials.

My second adventure involved Minestrone soup. I bought a slow cooker a few months ago and I'll admit my repertoire at the time was casserole or stew. So, I bought a cheap slow cooker book for inspiration and came across a recipe for minestrone. Normally I'd never be tempted to tackle a childhood favourite for  fear that it would ruin my fond food memories but I decided to relent just this once.
Off to the shops i went for the several hundred weight of vegetables the recipe called for and I cracked on with preparing for my first slow cooker soup attempt. I was quite surprised to note that this minestrone recipe calls for bacon!! I don't ever remember there being any bacon in the minestrone my mum used to give me, but as my Hubby pointed out that's because it came from a packet.

It took ages to chop all the veg really small and there was a scary moment when I didn't think my slow cooker pot was big enough but the resulting soup was so tasty that even my caveman-meat-loving Hubby enjoyed it! Needless to say it was snapped up so fast none of it actually made it to the freezer, never mind, maybe next time!!